Signal processing device and signal processing method

ABSTRACT

A signal processing device includes: a connection detector that detects whether an endoscope including one or more operation members is connected; an input unit to which an operation state signal is input from an external input device including one or more buttons that correspond to the one or more operation members included in the endoscope when the endoscope is not connected; and an operation execution unit that executes an operation according to the operation state signal that is input to the input unit.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority of theprior Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-024697, filed Feb. 10, 2015,the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

This is a Continuation Application of PCT Application No.PCT/JP2015/081413, filed Nov. 6, 2015, which was not published under PCTArticle 21(2) in English.

FIELD

The present invention relates to a signal processing device that anendoscope is connected to, and a signal processing method thereof.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, endoscope systems are used in medical fields such asinternal medicine or surgery. As an example, an endoscope system used inendoscopy in internal medicine (gastrointestinal medicine or the like)includes an endoscope, an endoscope video processor, a monitor device,and a peripheral device (an image recording device or the like), and theendoscope system is used in a state in which the above respectivedevices are connected to the endoscope video processor.

In the endoscope system used in endoscopy, a cleaned endoscope needs tobe used in every endoscopy. Therefore, an endoscope used in endoscopyneeds to be removed after the endoscopy, and a cleaned endoscope needsto be installed before the next endoscopy. Stated another way, anendoscope needs to be attached and detached to an endoscope videoprocessor in every endoscopy.

In addition, in the endoscope system used in endoscopy, pre-examinationpreparation, such as an input of examinee data (patient data) or thelike to the endoscope system or checking of an operation needed inexamination of the endoscope system, is performed before endoscopy. Asan example, in checking the operation of the endoscope system, anoperation member (for example, a button allocated as a release button)that is included in an endoscope is operated, and operation checking isperformed so as to check, for example, whether an operation according toan operation performed on the operation member (for example, a releaseoperation) is normally performed. When there are no problems in thepre-examination preparation, endoscopy is actually started.

Under the actual situation above, pre-examination preparation cannot becompleted in a state in which an endoscope is not connected to anendoscope video processor (for example, a state in which an endoscopeused in the previous endoscopy has been removed and a cleaned endoscopehas not yet been installed).

On the other hand, as an example, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Laid-OpenPatent Publication No. 2001-87222) describes an electronic endoscopedevice that is capable of inputting patient data or the like andpreparing for setup or the like even when an electronic endoscope is notconnected to a processor device. In the electronic endoscope device,when it is determined that an electronic endoscope including a clockgenerator is not connected, an auxiliary clock generator on a side ofthe processor device, not a clock generator on a side of the electronicendoscope, is selected and used, and various functions on the side ofthe processor device are enabled according to a clock signal that isoutput from the auxiliary clock generator. Accordingly, without theelectronic endoscope, patient data or the like can be input from akeyboard or the like, setup such as adjustment of a monitor can beperformed, and preparation for endoscopy or the like can be performedsmoothly.

In the electronic endoscope device described in Patent Document 1,various functions on the side of the processor device can be enabled(for example, setup such as adjustment of a monitor can be performed)even when the electronic endoscope is not connected to the processordevice.

SUMMARY

In an aspect of the present invention, a signal processing device isprovided that includes: a connection detector that detects whether anendoscope including one or more operation members is connected; an inputunit to which an operation state signal is input from an external inputdevice including one or more buttons that correspond to the one or moreoperation members included in the endoscope when the endoscope is notconnected; an operation execution unit that executes an operationaccording to the operation state signal that is input to the input unit;and a reporting unit that reports an operation result of the operationexecution unit.

In another aspect of the present invention, a signal processing methodis provided in which a signal processing device performs: detectingwhether an endoscope including one or more operation members isconnected; receiving an operation state signal from an external inputdevice including one or more buttons that correspond to the one or moreoperation members included in the endoscope when the endoscope is notconnected; executing an operation according to the received operationstate signal; and reporting an operation result.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration of an endoscope systemincluding an endoscope video processor that is a signal processingdevice according to an embodiment.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an external interface according to avariation.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an allocation information storage areaaccording to a variation.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example of a register according to a variation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing contentof a CPU according to a variation.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing contentof a CPU according to a variation.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention are described below with referenceto the drawings.

A signal processing device according to an embodiment of the presentinvention is included in an endoscope system used in endoscopy, forexample, in internal medicine (gastrointestinal medicine or the like).

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration of an endoscope systemincluding an endoscope video processor that is a signal processingdevice according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, an endoscope system 100 includes a scope (anendoscope) 200, an external interface 300, an endoscope video processor(hereinafter simply referred to as a “processor”) 400, a monitor device(hereinafter simply referred to as a “monitor”) 500, and an imagerecording device 600, and the endoscope system 100 has a configurationin which the scope 200 and/or the external interface 300, the monitor500, and the image recording device 600 are connected to the processor400.

In the endoscope system 100 described above, as an example, a portion ofthe scope 200 is inserted into the body of an examinee, and anobservation region inside the body of the examinee is imaged by thescope 200. A captured image is processed by the processor 400, andprocessing is performed, for example, such that the processed image isdisplayed on the monitor 500, or is recorded in the image recordingdevice 600.

In the endoscope system 100, the scope 200 includes an operation unitthat is operated by an examiner or the like. The operation unit includesone or more buttons, and an operation performed by the processor 400 isallocated in advance to each of the buttons. The operation allocated toeach of the buttons can be changed arbitrarily. Operations that can beallocated to the respective buttons are classified into an operationthat needs an image (a video signal) obtained from the scope 200 and anoperation that does not need the image (the video signal) obtained fromthe scope 200. Examples of the former operation include freezing,releasing, capturing, marking releasing, electronic magnification,focusing, a change in the size of an image, displaying a distribution ofan index of hemoglobin (IHb), image enhancement, a change in color, achange in contrast, noise reduction, picture-in-picture(PIP)/picture-on-picture (POP) display, auto gain control (AGC), andvideo recording. Examples of the latter operation include a change in aphotometry scheme, a change in a light amount of a light source,switching display information, clocking, rotating a turret for speciallight observation (such as narrow band imaging (NBI), auto-fluorescenceimaging (AFI), or intra-red imaging (IRI)), and feeding air (water) byusing a pump.

The external interface 300 is, for example, a portable informationterminal device such as a tablet terminal, or a keyboard, and theexternal interface 300 includes an operation unit that is operated by anexaminer or the like. The operation unit includes one or more buttonsthat correspond to one or more buttons included in the operation unit ofthe scope 200, and an operation that is similar to the operationallocated to each of the buttons of the scope 200 is allocated to eachof the buttons of the external interface 300. The buttons of theexternal interface 300 may be physical buttons, or may be virtualbuttons that are realized by a touch panel or the like.

The processor 400 includes a scope connection detection circuit 410, aninternal signal switching circuit 420, a non-volatile memory 430, afield-programmable gate array (FPGA) 440, and a function executioncircuit 450.

The scope connection detection circuit 410 detects whether the scope 200is connected to the processor 400 (connection or non-connection of thescope 200). Connection or non-connection is detected, for example, bydetecting whether there is a connection signal that is input from thescope 200.

The internal signal switching circuit 420 switches an input signalaccording to a detection result of the scope connection detectioncircuit 410. More specifically, when the scope connection detectioncircuit 410 detects that the scope 200 is connected, the internal signalswitching circuit 420 switches an input signal in such a way that anoperation state signal that is input from the scope 200 is output to theFPGA 440. When the scope connection detection circuit 410 detects thatthe scope 200 is not connected, the internal signal switching circuit420 switches an input signal in such a way that an operation statesignal that is input from the external interface 300 is output to theFPGA 440. Accordingly, the internal signal switching circuit 420 selectsan operation state signal that is input from the scope 200 or theexternal interface 300 in accordance with a detection result of thescope connection detection circuit 410, and outputs the selectedoperation state signal to the FPGA 440.

The operation state signal that is input from the scope 200 is a signalindicating an operation state of each of the buttons of the scope 200,and the operation state signal that is input from the external interface300 is a signal indicating an operation state of each of the buttons ofthe external interface 300. The operation state of each of the buttonsalso refers to a depression state of each of the buttons, or the ONstate or the OFF state of a switch of each of the buttons. Control isperformed in such away that an operation state signal that is input fromthe scope 200 when a button of the scope 200 is operated is the same asan operation state signal that is input from the external interface 300when a button of the external interface 300 that corresponds to thebutton of the scope 200 is operated. Accordingly, as an example, anoperation state signal that is input from the scope 200 when a button Aof the scope 200 is depressed is the same as an operation state signalthat is input from the external interface 300 when a buttons A′ of theexternal interface 300 that corresponds to the button A is depressed.Thus, it can be said that an operation state signal that is input fromthe external interface 300 is a pseudo operation state signal that isinput from the scope 200.

The non-volatile memory 430 includes an allocation information storagearea 431 that stores allocation information relating to an operationthat is allocated to each of the buttons of the scope 200 (this is alsoeach of the buttons of the external interface 300), and a sample imagestorage area 432 that stores a sample image. The sample image is a stillimage or a moving image, and is also a two-dimensional image (a 2Dimage) or a three-dimensional image (a 3D image). The sample image is,for example, an image that is generated within the processor 400.

The FPGA 440 includes a central processing unit (CPU) 441 and a register442.

The CPU 441 performs various types of control processing. As an example,the CPU 441 sets, in the register 442, an operation instruction (aninstruction to perform or not perform each operation) according to anoperation state signal that is output from the internal signal switchingcircuit 420, in accordance with the operation state signal and theallocation information stored in the allocation information storage area431 of the non-volatile memory 430. In this case, when the scopeconnection detection circuit 410 detects that the scope 200 is notconnected, and the operation instruction according to the operationstate signal that is output from the internal signal switching circuit420 is an operation instruction that needs an image obtained from thescope 200 (for example, an instruction to perform releasing or thelike), the CPU 441 performs control so as to output, to the functionexecution circuit 450, the sample image stored in the sample imagestorage area 432 of the non-volatile memory 430 as the image obtainedfrom the scope 200.

An instruction to perform or not perform each operation is set in theregister 442.

The function execution circuit 450 performs an operation according to anoperation instruction set by the CPU 441 of the FPGA 440. Morespecifically, the function execution circuit 450 monitors the register442 of the FPGA 440, and performs an operation that has been set to beperformed in the register 442. In this case, when the scope connectiondetection circuit 410 detects that the scope 200 is not connected, andthe operation instruction that has been set in the register 442 by theCPU 441 of the FPGA 440 is an operation instruction that needs an imageobtained from the scope 200 (for example, an instruction to performreleasing or the like), the function execution circuit 450 performs anoperation according to the operation instruction by using a sample imagethat is output from the sample image storage area 432 of thenon-volatile memory 430.

The monitor 500 displays an image, various types of data, or the like.As an example, the monitor 500 displays a result of the functionexecution circuit 450 performing an operation (success or failure inperforming an operation, an image obtained by performing an operation,or the like), examinee data, or the like.

The image recording device 600 records an image, various types of data,or the like. As an example, the image recording device 600 records aresult of the function execution circuit 450 performing an operation(for example, an image obtained by performing an operation), examineedata, or the like.

In the endoscope system 100 having the configuration above, the scope200 including one or more buttons is an example of an endoscopeincluding one or more operation members. The external interface 300including one or more buttons that correspond to the one or more buttonsof the scope 200 is an example of an external input device including oneor more operation members that correspond to the one or more operationmembers of the endoscope. The scope connection detection circuit 410 ofthe processor 400 is an example of a connection detector that detectswhether the endoscope including one or more operation members isconnected. The internal signal switching circuit 420 of the processor400 is an example of a signal selector that selects an operation statesignal that is input from the endoscope when the connection detectordetects that the endoscope is connected, and that selects an operationstate signal that is input from the external input device including oneor more operation members that correspond to the one or more operationmembers of the endoscope when the connection detector detects that theendoscope is not connected. The allocation information storage area 431of the non-volatile memory 430 of the processor 400 is an example of anallocation information storage unit that stores allocation informationrelating to an operation that is allocated to each of the operationmembers. Some functions of the CPU 441 of the FPGA 440 of the processor400 are examples of an operation instruction setting unit that sets anoperation instruction according to an operation state signal selected bythe signal selector in accordance with the operation state signalselected by the signal selector and the allocation information stored inthe allocation information storage unit. The function execution circuit450 of the processor 400 is an example of an operation execution unitthat executes an operation according to the operation instruction set bythe operation instruction setting unit. The sample image storage area432 of the non-volatile memory 430 of the processor 400 is an example ofa sample image storage unit that stores a sample image.

In the processor 400 of the endoscope system 100 having theconfiguration above, the following processing is performed, for example,at the time of checking an operation of the endoscope system 100 inpre-examination preparation for endoscopy.

First, the scope connection detection circuit 410 detects whether thescope 200 is connected to the processor 400 (connection ornon-connection of the scope 200).

Then, the internal signal switching circuit 420 switches an input signalaccording to a detection result of the scope connection detectioncircuit 410. More specifically, when the scope connection detectioncircuit 410 detects that the scope 200 is connected, the internal signalswitching circuit 420 switches an input signal in such a way that anoperation state signal that is input from the scope 200 is output to theFPGA 440, and when the scope connection detection circuit 410 detectsthat the scope 200 is not connected, the internal signal switchingcircuit 420 switches an input signal in such a way that an operationstate signal that is input from the external interface 300 is output tothe FPGA 440.

The CPU 441 of the FPGA 440 sets, in the register 442, an operationinstruction (an instruction to perform or not perform each operation)according to the operation state signal that is output from the internalsignal switching circuit 420 in accordance with the operation statesignal and the allocation information stored in the allocationinformation storage area 431 of the non-volatile memory 430. In thiscase, when the scope connection detection circuit 410 detects that thescope 200 is not connected, and the operation instruction according tothe operation state signal that is output from the internal signalswitching circuit 420 is an operation instruction that needs an imageobtained from the scope 200 (for example, an instruction to performreleasing or the like), the CPU 441 performs control so as to output, tothe function execution circuit 450, a sample image stored in the sampleimage storage area 432 of the non-volatile memory 430 as the imageobtained from the scope 200.

The function execution circuit 450 that monitors the register 442 of theFPGA 440 performs an operation according to the operation instructionthat has been set in the register 442 (an operation that has been set tobe performed in the register 442). In this case, when the scopeconnection detection circuit 410 detects that the scope 200 is notconnected, and the operation instruction that has been set in theregister 442 by the CPU 441 of the FPGA 440 is an operation instructionthat needs an image obtained from the scope 200 (for example, aninstruction to perform releasing or the like), the function executioncircuit 450 performs an operation according to the operation instructionby using a sample image that is output from the sample image storagearea 432 of the non-volatile memory 430. An execution result of thefunction execution circuit 450 is displayed on the monitor 500, or isrecorded in the image recording device 600.

As described above, by employing the processor 400 that is a signalprocessing device according to the embodiment, even in a case in whichthe scope 200 is not connected to the processor 400 at the time ofchecking an operation of the endoscope system 100 in pre-examinationpreparation for endoscopy, when the external interface 300 is connectedto the processor 400, an operation of the processor 400 that isperformed according to an operation performed on a button of the scope200 can be performed by operating a corresponding button of the externalinterface 300. Accordingly, a conventional problem can be solved whereinchecking an operation of the endoscope system 100 cannot be completed inpre-examination preparation because the scope 200 is not connected.

Various variations can be made to the endoscope system 100 including theprocessor 400 that is a signal processing device according to theembodiment.

As an example, the following variation can be made to the endoscopesystem 100 in such a way that an examiner or the like can freelyassociate a button of the external interface 300 with a desired buttonof a scope.

In this case, the external interface 300 includes the non-volatilememory 310 and the selector 320, as illustrated in FIG. 2, for example.The non-volatile memory 310 stores respective pieces of identificationinformation (identification information A, identification information B,and identification information C) of a plurality of scopes (in thisexample, assume that the plurality of scopes are three scopes, a scopeA, a scope B, and a scope B). The selector 320 selects identificationinformation of one scope from among respective pieces of identificationinformation of the plurality of scopes that are stored in thenon-volatile memory 310, in accordance with a prescribed operation thatan examiner or the like performs on the external interface 300.

The allocation information storage area 431 of the non-volatile memory430 of the processor 400 stores allocation information relating to anoperation that is allocated to each of the buttons for each of thepieces of identification information of the scopes, as illustrated inFIG. 3, for example. In the example illustrated in FIG. 3, NBI (rotatinga turret for NBI), releasing, and freezing are respectively allocated toa button A, a button B, and a button C of the scope A that correspondsto the identification information A. Pumping, electronic magnification,and image enhancement are respectively allocated to a button A, a buttonB, and a button C of the scope B that corresponds to the identificationinformation B. Focusing, video recording, and capturing are respectivelyallocated to a button A, a button B, and a button C of the scope C thatcorresponds to the identification information C.

An instruction to perform or not perform each operation is set in theregister 442 of the FPGA 440 of the processor 400, as illustrated inFIG. 4, for example. In the example illustrated in FIG. 4, aninstruction to perform or not perform each of the operations, NBI(rotating a turret for NBI), releasing, freezing, pumping, electronicmagnification, image enhancement, focusing, video recording, andcapturing, is set. In this example, “01” is set as an instruction toperform an operation, and “00” is set as an instruction to not performan operation.

In the endoscope system 100 according to the variation above, in a casein which a scope is not connected to the processor 400 at the time ofchecking an operation of the endoscope system 100 in pre-examinationpreparation for endoscopy, the following processing is performed, forexample.

First, in the external interface 300, the selector 320 selectsidentification information of a scope to be used in the next examinationin accordance with a prescribed operation performed by an examiner orthe like. The selected identification information of the scope isreported to the CPU 441 of the FPGA 440 of the processor 400.

In the processor 400, the scope connection detection circuit 410 detectsthat a scope is not connected to the processor 400 (non-connection of ascope).

Then, the internal signal switching circuit 420 switches an input signalaccording to a detection result (non-connection of a scope) of the scopeconnection detection circuit 410 in such a way that an operation statesignal that is input from the external interface 300 is output from theFPGA 440.

The CPU 441 of the FPGA 440 sets, in the register 442, an operationinstruction of a scope of corresponding identification information (aninstruction to perform or not perform an operation that is allocated toeach of the buttons of the scope of the corresponding identificationinformation) according to the operation state signal that is output fromthe internal signal switching circuit 420 in accordance with theoperation state signal, the allocation information stored in theallocation information storage area 431 of the non-volatile memory 430(see FIG. 3), and the identification information of the scope that isreported from the external interface 300. As an example, in a case inwhich the identification information of the scope that is reported fromthe external interface 300 is the identification information A of thescope A, and a button of the external interface 300 that corresponds tothe button A of the scope A is depressed, NBI in the register 442illustrated in FIG. 4 is set to “01”. As another example, in a case inwhich the identification information of the scope that is reported fromthe external interface 300 is the identification information B of thescope B, and a button of the external interface 300 that corresponds tothe button B of the scope B is depressed, electronic magnification inthe register 442 illustrated in FIG. 4 is set to “01”. In this case, ina case in which an operation instruction according to the operationstate signal that is output from the internal signal switching circuit420 is an operation instruction that needs an image obtained from ascope (for example, an instruction to perform the above electronicmagnification or the like), the CPU 441 performs control so as tooutput, to the function execution circuit 450, a sample image stored inthe sample image storage area 432 of the non-volatile memory 430 as theimage obtained from a scope.

The processing that follows is as described above, and its descriptionis omitted.

According to the variation above, an examiner or the like can freelyassociate a button of the external interface 300 with a desired buttonof a scope, and can make the processor 400 perform an operationaccording to an operation that is performed on the desired button of thescope by operating the button of the external interface 300.

In this variation, the non-volatile memory 310 of the external interface300 is an example of an endoscope identification information storageunit that stores respective pieces of endoscope identificationinformation of a plurality of endoscopes. The selector 320 of theexternal interface 300 is an example of an endoscope identificationinformation selector that selects one piece of endoscope identificationinformation from among plural pieces of endoscope identificationinformation stored in the endoscope identification information storageunit.

In the processor 400 that is a signal processing device according to theembodiment, a further variation may be made in such a way that the CPU441 of the FPGA 440 performs the following processing, for example, inorder to reduce a load on an examiner or the like at the time ofchecking an operation of the endoscope system 100 in pre-examinationpreparation.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing content.This processing is processing that is started, for example, after thefunction execution circuit 450 performs an operation including an imagerecording operation (for example, releasing, capturing, recording, andthe like) at the time of checking of an operation of the endoscopesystem 100 in pre-examination preparation.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, when this processing is started, the CPU 441first determines whether a communication line (a communication path) toa recording device or a recording medium that is connected to theprocessor 400 is abnormal (S110). The recording device that is connectedto the processor 400 is, for example, the image recording device 600above, or a recording device that is connected to the processor 400 viaa network. The recording medium that is connected to the processor 400is, for example, a universal serial bus (USB) memory. As an example,when communication can be performed between the recording device orrecording medium that is connected to the processor 400 and theprocessor 400, the determination result in S110 is No, and otherwise thedetermination result is Yes. In a case in which the recording mediumthat is connected to the processor 400 is a recording medium that doesnot have a communication function (for example, a USB memory that doesnot have a communication function), the determination result in S110 isregarded as No, and processing is proceeded.

When the determination result in S110 is Yes, the CPU 441 performscontrol so as to display, on the monitor 500, an error report indicatingthat a communication line between the recording device or recordingmedium that is connected to the processor 400 and the processor 400 isabnormal (S120).

When the determination result in S110 is No, the CPU 441 determineswhether the recording device or recording medium that is connected tothe processor 400 is uncoincident with a recording device or recordingmedium that has been set to be an image recording destination in theprocessor 400 (S130). As an example, when the image recording device 600is connected to the processor 400, in a case in which a USB memory hasbeen set to be an image recording destination in the processor 400, bothare uncoincident with each other, and therefore the determination resultis Yes.

When the determination result in S130 is Yes, the CPU 441 performscontrol so as to display, on the monitor 500, an error report indicatingthat the recording device or recording medium that is connected to theprocessor 400 is uncoincident with a recording device or recordingmedium that has been set to be an image recording destination in theprocessor 400 (S140).

When the determination result in S130 is No, the CPU 441 determineswhether an image has failed to be read from the recording device orrecording medium that is connected to the processor 400 (S150). In acase in which the recording device or recording medium that is connectedto the processor 400 is connected to the processor 400 via acommunication line and a video signal line, it is determined in S150whether the video signal line between the recording device or recordingmedium that is connected to the processor 400 and the processor 400 isabnormal.

When the determination result in S150 is Yes, the CPU 441 performscontrol so as to display, on the monitor 500, an error report indicatingthat an image has failed to be read from the recording device orrecording medium that is connected to the processor 400 (or an errorreport indicating that the video signal line between the recordingdevice or recording medium that is connected to the processor 400 andthe processor 400 is abnormal) (S160).

When the determination result in S150 is No, the CPU 441 determineswhether a free recording space of the recording device or recordingmedium that is connected to the processor 400 is smaller than or equalto a prescribed space (S170). The prescribed space is a recording spacethat is smaller than a recording space that is needed for at least oneendoscopy.

When the determination result in S170 is Yes, the CPU 441 performscontrol so as to display, on the monitor 500, an error report indicatingthat the free recording space of the recording device or recordingmedium that is connected to the processor 400 is smaller than or equalto a prescribed space (an error report indicating that a free recordingspace is insufficient) (S180).

When the determination result in S170 is No, the CPU 441 performscontrol so as to display, on the monitor 500, a report indicating thatimage recording has been normally performed (S190).

After S120, S140, S160, S180, or S190, this processing is finished.

According to the variation above, an examiner or the like can easilyspecify the cause of failure in image recording at the time of checkingan operation of the endoscope system 100 in pre-examination preparation,and a load on the examiner or the like at the time of checking theoperation of the endoscope system 100 can be reduced.

In this variation, a function of the CPU 441 for performing theprocessing illustrated in FIG. 5 is an example of a determination unitthat performs any one or more of first determination of whether acommunication path to a connected recording device or recording mediumis abnormal, second determination of whether the connected recordingdevice or recording medium is uncoincident with a recording device orrecording medium that has been set to be an image recording destination,third determination of whether an image has failed to be read from theconnected recording device or recording medium, and fourth determinationof whether a free recording space of the connected recording device orrecording medium is smaller than or equal to a prescribed space, at thetime of operation checking. The monitor 500 is an example of an errorreporting unit that reports an error when a result of any one of thefirst determination to the fourth determination performed by thedetermination unit is true.

In this variation, as an example, the CPU 441 of the FPGA 440 mayperform control so as to store a determination result of determinationprocessing performed in the flowchart of FIG. 5 in a determinationresult storage area included in the non-volatile memory 430, and mayfurther perform the following processing.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the processing content.This processing is processing that is started, for example, before thefunction execution circuit 450 performs an operation including an imagerecording operation at the time of checking an operation of theendoscope system 100 in pre-examination preparation.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, when this processing is started, the CPU 441first determines whether a previous determination result has been storedin the determination result storage area of the non-volatile memory 430(S210).

When the determination result in S210 is Yes, the CPU 441 determineswhether all of the determination results in the previous S110, S130, andS150 are No (false) in accordance with the previous determination resultstored in the determination result storage area of the non-volatilememory 430 (S220).

When the determination result in S220 is Yes, the CPU 441 determineswhether a determination result in the previous S170 is No (false) inaccordance with the previous determination result stored in thedetermination result storage area of the non-volatile memory 430 (S230).

When the determination result in S230 is Yes, the CPU 441 controls thefunction execution circuit 450 to omit an image recording operation froman operation including the image recording operation that the functionexecution circuit 450 will perform next time, and also controls thefunction execution circuit 450 to not perform the processing in theflowchart illustrated in FIG. 5 after an operation in which the imagerecording operation is omitted (S240).

When the determination result in S230 is No, the CPU 441 performscontrol to omit the processes of S110 to S160 and to perform only theprocesses of S170 to S190 in the processing in the flowchart illustratedin FIG. 5 that is performed after an operation including the imagerecording operation that the function execution circuit 450 will performnext time (S250). Namely, the CPU 441 performs control to only determinea free recording space and perform processing according to adetermination result.

When the determination result in S210 is No, when the determinationresult in S220 is No, when the process of S240 is performed, or when theprocess of S250 is performed, this processing is finished. When thedetermination result in S210 is No, or when the determination result inS220 is No, the operation including the image recording operation thatthe function execution circuit 450 will perform next time is performedwith no change, and the processing in the flowchart illustrated in FIG.5 that is performed after the operation including the image recordingoperation is also performed with no change.

In the processing above, at the time of checking an operation of theendoscope system 100 in pre-examination preparation, an examiner or thelike does not need to confirm the image recording operation or toconfirm a free recording space of a recording device or recording mediumthat is connected to the processor 400 every time an operation includingthe image recording operation is performed. Accordingly, a load on theexaminer or the like at the time of checking the operation of theendoscope system 100 can be reduced. In addition, the time needed tocheck the operation of the endoscope system 100 can be reduced.

In this variation, the determination result storage area included in thenon-volatile memory 430 of the processor 400 is an example of adetermination result storage unit that stores a result of any one ormore of the first determination to the fourth determination performed bythe determination unit.

In addition, a plurality of recording destinations, such as a pluralityof recording devices or a plurality of recording media, or one or morerecording devices and one or more recording media, may be connected asimage recording destinations to the processor 400 that is a signalprocessing device according to the embodiment. In this case, theoperation above that is performed on one recording destination (forexample, the image recording device 600) may be performed on each of theconnected recording destinations.

The processor 400 that is a signal processing device according to theembodiment may be configured to be integrated with the externalinterface 300. In this case, the external interface 300 is configured tobe, for example, a front panel of the processor 400.

The embodiment described above gives a specific example of the presentinvention in order to make the invention easily understandable, and thepresent invention is not limited to the embodiment described above.Various variations or modifications can be made to the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit of the present invention specified inthe claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A signal processing device comprising: aconnection detector that detects whether an endoscope including one ormore operation members is connected; an input unit to which an operationstate signal is input from an external input device including one ormore buttons that correspond to the one or more operation membersincluded in the endoscope when the endoscope is not connected; anoperation execution unit that executes an operation according to theoperation state signal that is input to the input unit; and a reportingunit that reports an operation result of the operation execution unit.2. The signal processing device according to claim 1, wherein theoperation state signals that are input from the external input deviceare signals that respectively indicate the same operations as operationsindicated by the operation state signals from the one or more operationmembers included in the endoscope.
 3. The signal processing deviceaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a signal selector that selectsan operation state signal that is input from the endoscope when theconnection detector detects that the endoscope is connected, and thatselects an operation state signal that is input from the external inputdevice when the connection detector detects that the endoscope is notconnected, wherein the operation execution unit executes an operationaccording to the operation state signal selected by the signal selector.4. The signal processing device according to claim 3, furthercomprising: an allocation information storage unit that storesallocation information relating to an operation that is allocated toeach of the one or more operation members; and an operation instructionsetting unit that sets an operation instruction according to theoperation state signal selected by the signal selector in accordancewith the operation state signal selected by the signal selector and theallocation information stored in the allocation information storageunit, wherein the operation execution unit executes an operationaccording to the operation instruction set by the operation instructionsetting unit.
 5. The signal processing device according to claim 4,further comprising: a sample image storage unit that stores a sampleimage, wherein when the connection detector detects that the endoscopeis not connected, and the operation instruction set by the operationinstruction setting unit is an operation instruction that needs an imageobtained from the endoscope, the operation execution unit executes theoperation according to the operation instruction by using the sampleimage stored in the sample image storage unit.
 6. The signal processingdevice according to claim 4, wherein the external input device includes:an endoscope identification information storage unit that storesendoscope identification information of each of a plurality ofendoscopes; and an endoscope identification information selector thatselects one piece of endoscope identification information from amongplural pieces of endoscope identification information stored in theendoscope identification information storage unit, the allocationinformation storage unit stores the allocation information relating tothe operation that is allocated to each of the one or more operationmembers for each of the plural pieces of endoscope identificationinformation, and when the connection detector detects that the endoscopeis not connected, the operation instruction setting unit sets anoperation instruction of corresponding endoscope identificationinformation according to the operation state signal selected by thesignal selector in accordance with the operation state signal selectedby the signal selector, the allocation information stored in theallocation information storage unit, and the endoscope identificationinformation selected by the endoscope identification informationselector, the endoscope identification information being input from theexternal input device.
 7. The signal processing device according toclaim 1, further comprising: a determination unit that, at a time ofoperation checking, performs any one or more of first determination ofwhether a communication path to a connected recording device orrecording medium is abnormal, second determination of whether theconnected recording device or recording medium is uncoincident with arecording device or recording medium that is set in advance to be animage recording destination, third determination of whether an image hasfailed to be read from the connected recording device or recordingmedium, and fourth determination of whether a free recording space ofthe connected recording device or recording medium is smaller than orequal to a prescribed space.
 8. The signal processing device accordingto claim 7, further comprising: an error reporting unit that reports anerror when a result of any one of the first determination to the fourthdetermination performed by the determination unit is true.
 9. The signalprocessing device according to claim 7, further comprising: adetermination result storage unit that stores a result of any one ormore of the first determination to the fourth determination performed bythe determination unit.
 10. The signal processing device according toclaim 9, wherein at a time of operation checking, when all results of aprevious first determination to a previous fourth determination that arestored in the determination result storage unit are false, an imagerecording operation is omitted from an operation including the imagerecording operation that the operation execution unit will execute nexttime.
 11. The signal processing device according to claim 9, wherein atthe time of operation checking, when all results of the previous firstdetermination to a previous third determination that are stored in thedetermination result storage unit are false, and when a result of theprevious fourth determination is true, the first determination to thethird determination are not performed, but the fourth determination isperformed in a next determination performed by the determination unit.12. A signal processing method performed by a signal processing device,the signal processing method comprising: detecting whether an endoscopeincluding one or more operation members is connected; receiving anoperation state signal from an external input device including one ormore buttons that correspond to the one or more operation membersincluded in the endoscope when the endoscope is not connected; executingan operation according to the received operation state signal; andreporting an operation result.